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Good read. Feeling the same way
Not a meltdown thread, just reflecting a bit on the last few weeks...
I'm a bit disappointed in Bobo, he just looks kinda passive out there for long stretches.
I'm wondering what's really going on with Tiago. He sat out for a long ass time, and still can't play 15 mins of basketball without running a bike for while.
I'm bittersweet about Cojo. He has games where he's really aggressive and wows, and games where he just passes up shots and defers too much. Every player needs to be a threat, especially if you're out there in crunch time.
I miss Kawhi and he's only been out one game. This team really stinks rebounding the ball, especially without Tiago. It's Tim and nobody else. He's sorely missed there more than anywhere else.
I'm confused about Tony, is he hurt? is he coasting? Is this the inevitable decline after collecting so many miles on his legs. He has earned the benefit of the doubt.
I'm a bit sad Gino is showing his age, and we can't continue to rely on him to win us games night in and night out. The fire is obviously still there, but the misses right at the rim are a constant reminder of father time.
I'm grateful for Tim, who's the only exception to the rule (as always). He might be showing his age in the post or the jumper, but he's a monster.
We're moving the ball only sporadically, and we half ass the defense until we need to drag ourselves out of a hole. It's like we don't really have that fire every night (or most of the night), only against potential contenders or severely crippled teams.
This isn't the first and likely not the last time the Spurs will go through a stretch of disinterested play. Pop has pulled the 'soft' card many times before. I think we're an extremely talented team, but we can't pretend that we can just flip the switch whenever we want. There's still a long season ahead of us, and plenty of time for the Spurs to be the best team they can be, so there's no need to jump off the cliff just yet.
Your thoughts?
Good read. Feeling the same way
Injuries and december basketball......meh. And I disagree about flipping the switch, last year it was the opposite, killed ty teams and lost to good ones early. Then once again around the rodeo road trip they turned it on, played well going into the playoffs, and the rest
However manu is reverting back to 2012-13 form but we're good enough depth wise (when it matters) to handle that
The thing is that the defense has been good and the Spurs do look good when they are good.
The trouble is with the offense. It is a sputtering offense where off the dribble plays are lacking and every game seems to be a struggle as defenses concentrate hard against the reigning champions.
I guess, Patty's coming back will help for one. And Parker, who I thought was doing well early in the season.. maybe should earn his salary like he has always done in the past.
The Spurs are depending too much on Duncan and Manu now and while it just reflects the greatness of the elderly gentlemen, it has to be Parker and the "next three" - Kawhi, Danny and Splitter who should carry the load more. In that respect so far, the season has been a failure till date. But its only December and I think the Spurs will pick up later in the season.
Positives - Cory Joseph has done really well. He is still a bit erratic but he has improved tremendously.
Last season we had a progression where we were not good enough to beat the good teams, and then we improved to the point where we could beat anybody. I don't think a "switch" was involved there. This season we've gone through up and downs against scrub teams, but the last couple of weeks have been just awful basketball against ty teams. We basically only showed up against Memphis (which is a good team) and the crippled Wolves.
With the long grind of the last 3 years (three long playoff runs with finals appearances the last two years), it is very hard to muster up that same drive and determination that we saw last year. Ultimate success as the last team standing brings a level of satisfaction and it is hard to "bring it" each and every night. With the lack of roster continuity, it is not totally surprising that the Spurs are having some problems.
Getting Leonard, Splitter, and Parker back healthy will be a big help. Getting an in shape and hopefully productive Patty Mills will go a long way towards getting things back in order for the bench.
It's hard to be patient with some of these tough losses lately, but better days are ahead if everyone can get back on the floor and healthy at the same time.
I know I'm a spoiled Spurs fan - things have hummed along so well for so long its a drag to see things not work well some nights this season.
Meh theyve gone into GS, LAC, Memphis and Cleveland and bullied all of them. That and the fact that the team hasn't been healthy all season makes it really hard to get too concerned about rough stretches like these. HCA is really only a difference maker vs OKC and we have a comfortable lead on them tbh.
They need to knock it off. The playoffs aren't guaranteed this season in the West (at least HCA in the first round). The next month of play will be telling.
Manu's crunch time FT shooting is completely disturbing.
Solid point, lots of miles the last 3 seasons.
We're making the playoffs, obviously but we need HCA despite what Pop says about that.
They are not hungry, every loss except Utah was a close one Spurs play like they should only in the 4th quarter look Danny Green in the 4th tonight he was jumping like a monkey swatting balls running and stealing the balls 6 times as minimum but there was no fire in the first 3 quarters, coasting is good but you coast too much and you will finish with a 5th seed, this year is a closer race for playoff spots they are playing with switches, regulating their bodies but that tells me something... PATTY WHERE ARE YOU!?!?! I MISS YOU PATTY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WHERE IS MY MVP???????????????????????
I agree the d and ball movement isnt there. You see that as a long term issue though, cause i dont. Without some of our guys though, splitter mills and others consistently, if this team is healthy then even as an 8th seed (that wont happen) I favor us against anyone
I'm still pissed, because I hate losing to the got Lakers and I'm getting real tired of Popovich treating world class athletes like Ming Vases (Kawhi could've played tonight, but Pop once again got cute with his "looking ahead" M.O. And this won't be the last time Pop makes potentially easy wins difficult because he's programmed to sit everyone on back-to-backs), but this team is fine.
The Brooklyn and Utah games weren't gimmies, despite those team's records. Brooklyn can be a stingy team under Hollins' Grit and Grind system. Sure, they're below average defensively, but they slow the game to a crawl, which can throw a pace team like the Spurs out of rhythm. Utah has some talent and they have the mile high advantage. They were on a 9 game losing streak, Tony Parker was out, and with Manu having his worst game of the season, I'm not surprised we gave that game away. And if Kawhi played tonight, the Spurs coast to a 10-15 point win. Sure, the Spurs should crush the Lakers even without Leonard, but like I said awhile back, the Lakers have enough offense that they can hot and steal some games they had no business winning.
Once this team gets healthy and in-sync, they'll go on a run. All their metrics look good, and that's with missing 2 of the team's top 8 players.
The other thing too is that the Spurs look like they are just trying to survive the regular season grind and get to the playoffs. I don't see them getting the #1 seed like they did last year. However, a fully stocked Spurs roster can win a game anywhere anytime in the playoffs.
Yeah. I'm a huge Manu fan, and he always used to be automatic at the charity stripe in crunch time. Now it seems he splits them every time.
this.
they just need to get into the playoffs as healthy as possible, be ahead of OKC in the seeding, and the rest I don't worry about. Tonight was just a ty loss because of the Laker/troll element.
The 2010 7th seeded Spurs thought the same thing and look what happened then.
I have to believe it's not a physical thing, but a mental thing. But if that's the case, there isn't much Chip can do to help him in that area.
I'm not down on the team, I think we're the team with the highest ceiling out there, due to corporate knowledge and because we know what our peak looks like. It's not a given we're going to reach that peak again, but I'm sure we'll work towards it. I just think we've been coasting a bit the last couple of weeks and that's something we didn't do a lot last season.
Just really need to get healthy, tbh..
It's frustrating that every week there's a new injury, and it's not even the 2 seniors on the team suffering from these injuries, either..
Only concern I have is Splitter's health, right now..I agree that there's something mysterious about his current status..
As for Diaw, I genuinely believe he's just coasting..he played in the Summer, and his personality is laid back by nature, I think he'll be fine when the Spurs need him later..
cmon this spurs team is alot more talented than the 2010 team. Not having HCA isnt the reason we lost.
In 2011 we were the one seed, albeit with a hurt manu, 2012 we were a one seed, hca didnt help. neither years in any series did we see a game 7 to use the advantage and in game 5 at home in 2012, the one time we faced a series past 4, we lost.
Last edited by marinoman; 12-13-2014 at 02:20 AM.
It's also easier to feel good about coasting when this team has already dominated the Grizzlies/Warriors and defeated the Clippers, Cavs and Mavs..all those teams are regular season warriors, too..
I think the 2009-2010 team beat the Mavericks in the first round that year and had to depend on Matt Bonner and Richard Jefferson a lot more than they would now. This is a much better team than that one IF HEALTHY.
i'm not worried about them picking it up at the season goes along. i just hope they're going to be content with not having a top 2 seed
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